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Re: Who's Going to Buy/Read Paul Ryan's New Book?

Originally Posted by obvious Child

Krauthammer is a total worthless sh(tbag.

For instance, he argued it was Obama's fault we have 0 soldiers in Iraq never ever ever once mentioning that it was Bush who negotiated that agreement, that Bush did not agree to the exact same requirements the Iraqis asked Obama for, namely Judicial control of American soldiers and Obama is at fault for not trying hard to overcome the same exact same requirement Bush would never have agreed to. He doesn't even mention the the Judicial control problem while writing article after article promoting American sovereignty. How can you attack Obama for not agreeing to give up Judicial sovereignty to a very corrupt Judicial system at the same time promoting American sovereignty above all agreements? Literally makes no logical sense. Krauthammer will temporarily abandon his own principles just to attack Obama.

This is not an accurate depiction of the SOFA negotiations. The Iraqi's wanted 20,000 troops remaining behind, and the Maliki administration was willing to go to back and make the Judicial fight happen in order to get 20,000. The minimum they would accept was 10,000, which was what DOD negotiators were working with. Then a couple of months before it was set to pass, the White House declared that 5,000 was its' ceiling, effectively torpedoing its' own negotiations. It wasn't worth the loss of political capital for Maliki to make that fight, and from that point on he understood he was on his own. So, he moved instead to consolidate power by ousting opposition blocs, such as the Sunnis.

You want to talk disingenuous? I'll find you a clip of Obama claiming a thousand times to adoring crowds that he was the one who pulled US forces out of Iraq, followed by his most recent revelation that it wasn't his decision.

Re: Who's Going to Buy/Read Paul Ryan's New Book?

Originally Posted by cpwill

This is not an accurate depiction of the SOFA negotiations. The Iraqi's wanted 20,000 troops remaining behind, and the Maliki administration was willing to go to back and make the Judicial fight happen in order to get 20,000.

Hardly. We both know full well the Iraqi Parliament made it explicitly clear they were never going to agree to a SOFA without Iraqi Judicial Oversight. Bush said screw that and he was right. And Obama said screw that and he was right. There was never a zone of possible agreement when the Iraqi Parliament had that as a non-negotiable item and neither Bush nor Obama were ever going to give in on it. The number of troops is irrelevant when the ZOPA itself was never going to happen.

Re: Who's Going to Buy/Read Paul Ryan's New Book?

I'm not a real big fan of Paul Ryan myself. I think he's an Establishment player who derides the government, calls for less government, all the while never holding a job outside the government.

Having said that, he's here, he's a media darling, and he is a player. So, I just ordered his book and hope to God that it is more interesting than I fear...

Who else has bought/will buy?

What do you think of him?

Is he a contender?

*** Some autofill nonsense happened with the poll, the first choice is simply "Yes"

I probably won't buy it, but I'm always happy to give books like these a read when I have the time. It would be a fall or summer break thing for me. I'm not a huge fan of Ryan either, but it's always interesting to see their interpretation of the political landscape in book form.

Re: Who's Going to Buy/Read Paul Ryan's New Book?

As a general rule (with a few exceptions*) I find books by pundits and politicians to be awful. Not necessarily a statement on their beliefs or personalities but hot damn you can almost always find a better book to read.